March Volunteer Update

Welcome to this month’s volunteer update. Here is some of the key information for the coming period:

Defibrillators

Event Day Course Check

WebFMS Access

Health & Wellbeing Toolkit

Photography Policy

Ambassador Recruitment

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1 Defibrillators at UK events

Thanks to the phenomenal efforts of our parkrun community:

100% of 5k events now have access to an AED on parkrunday

87.1% of our junior events currently have access to an AED

We are now focused on helping teams increase the percentage of junior events to 100% as soon as possible, and more information about How to obtain an AED is available here and includes specific considerations for junior parkrun events.

The guide also explains how to borrow one of our two AED training models which have been proving useful at organised parkrun bystander AED/CPR training sessions.

Please can all UK teams also take a moment to read the section entitled ‘Ongoing Maintenance’ and ensure that checks are carried out regularly and that batteries and pads are fit for purpose.

In June 2017 we made it compulsory for all new events to have access to an AED which was absolutely the right thing to do as we know that our defibrillators are being utilised at our events.

With that in mind please note the following change in policy for UK events with an AED:

If you know that your AED is not available in advance you should attempt to locate a replacement and if that is not possible you should cancel your event citing this as the reason for cancellation on WebFMS.

AERO Healthcare, our approved provider, have donated one AED to be held centrally which can go out on loan as a short-term emergency replacement if need be. Please email eventsupport@parkrun.com to discuss should the need arise.

If you find your AED is not available (unexpectedly) on the day your event can go ahead if it has been risk assessed appropriately and you have informed your community of the situation.

Finally, please mention the whereabouts of the AED in your pre-run brief and ensure that it is detailed in your risk assessment and on your H&S lanyards. Thank you.

Helen Hood

Head of Event Delivery – UK & Ireland

2 Event Day Course Check

We very rarely add new volunteer roles to WebFMS but Event Day Course Check has been added to the dropdown menu this month. We completely appreciate that teams approach this in different ways depending on their course design and while it is not compulsory to use this role specifically the entire course should be checked before the start of every event.

Over the coming months, we will be consolidating records and converting UserCreators to FMSProcessors where appropriate. Your help keeping user access permissions up-to-date is greatly appreciated.

Jake Lodge

IT Support

parkrun Global

4 Health and Wellbeing Toolkit

Stop press! There are now over 700 registered parkrun practices – this is fantastic progress in only eight months. We would like to thank everyone for their support, and would ask that you continue to share any great case studies via eventsupport@parkrun.com.

We know that levels of engagement will vary, but from feedback we have received it is clear that practices, events and patients are seeing some incredible benefits from this initiative. It will be important to undertake a thorough evaluation both of implementation and impact and we are working closely with a leading academic (and passionate parkrunner!) to undertake this research. We will be in touch with Ambassadors and 5k event teams in due course about this evaluation.

There is a palpable buzz across primary and secondary health care about the initiative, and we have been inundated with inquiries from a range of professionals, such as physios, OTs, cardiologists, link workers, pharmacists and more, about how they might replicate it. Although at the moment, we want to focus on the parkrun practices initiative and not roll it out to other sectors, we want to harness this enthusiasm and give all those working in health and social care the resources to be able to promote parkrun to patients and service users. As such, we have produced a generic Health and wellbeing Toolkit that could be used by anyone, regardless of their specialism. It can be downloadedhere.

There is also a template slideshow, based on the GP practice specific version, which can be downloaded, edited and uploaded to TV screens in waiting room/communal areas.

We will share these resources more widely on International Social Prescribing Day on 14 March, but wanted to alert you to their existence and ask that you forward them to any health and social care practitioners who might be interested in promoting parkrun.

Thanks, as always, for your support

Chrissie Wellington

Health and Wellbeing Lead

parkrun Global

5 Photography Policy

Whilst filming and photography are a fantastic part of parkrun, allowing us to share stories and inspire others to take part, there are clear safeguarding implications and as such all event teams should familiarise themselves with our Photography and Filming Policy.

As with all matters related to safeguarding, we are here to advise and support you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

Clare Fowler

Safeguarding Lead

parkrun UK and Ireland

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6 Ambassador Recruitment

Our Ambassador Programme was created in 2013 to provide a national network of skilled and experienced volunteers who get involved outside of our weekly events and provide vital support to the UK & Ireland operations team.

If you are interested in joining the Ambassador programme, you can find out more here.

We are currently looking to recruit Ambassadors in the following locations:

Stockport, Greater Manchester and Hyde

Worcestershire and Warwickshire

East Suffolk

Jaz Bangerh

Head of HR and Volunteer Management

parkrun UK

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